When it comes to returning earnings to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, Northern Trust Corp. investors have reason to feel hopeful, according to a new analysis.

The Chicago-based financial services firm is near the top of a list of banks expected to have the highest payout ratios over the next year.

With an annualized dividend of $1.32 a share, Northern Trust will give back 39 percent of its earnings over the next four quarters in that payout method alone, according to Evercore Group LLC analyst Andrew Marquardt. When combined with $425 million in stock buybacks in that time, Northern Trust will return 92 percent of expected earnings to investors through the first quarter of 2015, he said.

Stock buybacks are generally cheered by investors because they're supposed to reduce the number of shares in the open market. So when the company makes money, profits per share are higher because those earnings are sliced into fewer pieces.

A 92 percent combined payout ratio would rank third among 22 banks that Evercore analyzed, after Goldman Sachs, at 99 percent, and direct rival State Street, at 104 percent.

Companies may exceed 100 percent if they have excess capital based on annual federal stress-test results conducted in March.

The average payout of the 22 is expected to be 64 percent, and the median is 68 percent, Marquardt said.

Marquardt said in his report that he "would not be surprised" if Northern Trust were to pay out more than 100 percent of its earnings eventually.

Looking up: Since 2012, 222 banks have announced 460 dividend increases, according to a report this week by investment banking firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, many banks suspended their dividends or cut them to a penny a share to conserve resources.